It's jam, not rocket science.

I've been cleaning the cooker after another day of messy creative preserving thinking about a blog post from Rosie Makes Jam. The more I thought about it the more frustrated & annoyed I became. Not about Rosie, but about the whole nonsense of this Nanny State we appear to be living in.

New DEFRA regulations appear to be poised, set at reducing the overall sugar content of jam and similar products and have, seemingly, totally missed the point.
We have to have a certain amount of sugar in the jam to PRESERVE the fruit. We've been doing it for hundreds of years.

Part of the trouble is, I feel, that the articles written on the subject are, hopefully unintentionally, misleading and try to appeal your conscience fooling you into thinking that DEFRA are doing right by you.

In order for jam to last it needs to have a sugar content of 60%. That's science. Proven science.
But, before you panic, that's the TOTAL sugar content including the naturals sugars from the fruit.
Let me give you an example. Jam typically its made with 50% fruit and 50% added sugar but will have an overall sugar content of between 60-69% on average, depending on the fruit & the time of year.
Half the content of that jam is fruit.
Doesn't that make you feel better?
It should. It's true, traditional jam. Preserved fruit.

So, if these regulations go through it seems I will have two options:

•  reduce the amount of added sugar (which will give a sloppy product with reduced shelf life & less value for money)
• call my 'jam' something else

Quite frankly I think DEFRA are going about this the wrong way. 

The regulations should follow, surely, that those companies who want to make reduced sugar products, those with the technology for mechanical filling and sealing that allow for long life, those that add artificial preserving agents & chemicals, should not be allowed to call their product 'JAM'.*

Yes, there IS a market out there for reduced sugar jam but keep it separate. 

Stop making choices for us.

This is bureaucracy at it's most idiotic and, while seemingly not terribly important to the majority of people, it seems to me that once again the 'little people' are losing out in the name of commercialism.

Wake up & smell the jam people!

Suggested reading:

The Daily Mail have a good article about the new regulations, featuring Vivien LLoyd and you can sign Vivien's petition for real jam here

Please read Rosie's blog and have a look at the links she provides

*(Having reached this conclusion, I've just read an open letter by Rosie to DEFRA here and she says the same thing at the bottom of her letter.)